This is an extremely thorough and lively study of specific impoverished streets in New York City in the late 1920s and subsequent depression era.

It is full of descriptive and unforgettable detail that had me thinking of motion pictures of urban life in that era-- and how lacking they are in verisimilitude.

Descriptions of family life, attitudes, access to services-- and matter-of-fact descriptions of crushing circumstances are all here.

After reading this, one will gain a strong admiration for people who rose above or changed the terrible environment in which they found themselves, many as immigrants-- living without light, fresh air, or water to bathe in. Their poignant hopes, dreams, and fears in stifling circumstances-- and of those crushed by their circumstances-- can be discerned from the details of this book.

One will also inevitably think about how the oppressive poverty of those times compare to circumstances in urban poor neighborhoods today, which are nominally better but worsening.

One will ask, also, "Why?"

Why then?

Why today?